Happy endings are a myth, right?
by Ranowa Hikura
Summary: Part 3 of my Aftershock series. EC, AO. Casey's pregnant and married to Elliot, Alex and Olivia are engaged, but it wouldn't be any good if something didn't happen to end it all, right?
1. Chapter 1

This took so long because VampirePrincess86 wouldn't update Life or Death. But now she has, so… it's sequel time!

This is the sequel to Her flame wouldn't die, and the last in the series. For those who don't want to read the first two, short summary: In Running Away (first one) Casey is raped by her ex-boyfriend. She ends up getting shot when she confronts him, and when her rapist rapes somebody else, ADA Abbie Carmichael gets a conviction. No romance, but alot of CO and some EC friendship. In Her flame wouldn't die, a year later, Casey and Elliot are dating and so are Alex Cabot and Olivia. Casey is SVU's ADA while Alex is Bureau Chief for White Collar. Casey's rapist escapes from prison and kidnaps her, and SVU races to find her before time runs out. Nine days later, they arrive just in time, managing to both save her life and kill her rapist. While Casey is in the hospital, Elliot decides he wants to marry her and tells Olivia to propose to Alex before it's too late. Her flame wouldn't die leaves off with both Casey and Alex accepting their respective proposals.

This one will obviously be EC and AO, though it will focus on EC. Maybe some other relationships will crop up, but I don't expect to make this 'Casey cheats on Elliot, now they have to decide if they should get a divorce' story. Or 'blank cheats on blank, now blankedy blank blank blank.' Or 'Kathy is jealous blank blank blank.' So... yeah, I don't know if this needs anything else... here we go!

Sorry, I have to add something. This is for Mizuno-kun's sake- Casey is the redhead lawyer. She and Elliot, the sensitive cop, are married. Alex is the blond lawyer. She and Olivia- the butch cop- are engaged. Now let's go even more basic- Casey=female. Casey=straight. Alex and Olivia= female. Alex and Olivia= lesbian. Elliot= male. Elliot= straight… hey, don't give me that look! You know I love you too

Disclaimer: doink doink owns these guys

Spoilers: none

**The following takes place a year after Her flame wouldn't die**

**Chapter 1**

Casey Novak Stabler modeled her brand new maternity power suit for Elliot, collapsing into laughter as his blue eyes widened in shock. "Oh god, the pregnancy hormones," he muttered as he rolled over, letting her fall onto the bed.

"I look ridiculous," she said into a pillow, and Elliot just started rubbing her back gently, his smile widening. "Now everybody's going to know I'm pregnant."

"Well, SVU and your boss already know, Casey," he said, trying to get her to look at him. "And I'm sure some of the ADAs know as well. Besides, I think everybody already knows just by looking at you."

"Elliot, stop it! I feel fat enough already."

"Hey, it's natural! Don't go after me! Besides, you're not fat, you're just..." Casey's head shot up as she gave him a death glare, green eyes sharp and cold as she waited for his answer. Elliot silently berated himself for saying anything as he fumbled for a way to make his words sound nice rather than insulting. "Um... look, Case, you're carrying a baby, if you didn't get a little fat, then-"

Casey huffed as she got up, stalking into the other room and shouting over her shoulder, "You_ suck_!"

Elliot groaned and hurried after her, mumbling, "Stupid pregnancy hormones," again. "Casey, come on, don't get mad at me, I don't think you're fat, it was just a slip of the tongue, seriously..."

Casey kept her back to him, but a smile was already tugging at her lips. Elliot really was adorable when he was desperate. She rubbed the large bump on her stomach affectionately, jolting when she felt the baby kick.

After their honeymoon eight months ago, Casey had found out she was pregnant. Several months later, Casey and Elliot had gotten their first ultrasound and learned they having a son. Now, however, Casey was getting more self-conscious about being pregnant and already thought she looked ridiculous, even though Elliot vehemently disagreed every time she voiced this opinion.

"Come on, Casey, please..." Elliot begged from behind her, making Casey remember she hadn't told Elliot he was forgiven yet.

Pretending to still be mad, she turned back around and said, "Fine. Maybe I'll forgive you... _If _you take me to my softball game. That I forgot about. That's half an hour away. In ten minutes." *

He groaned, staring at her in shock. "Casey! ... ugh. You know what, you can be a real pain sometime."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried, throwing herself at him and trying to kiss him.

Elliot let her have her fun for a moment before pulling away, exclaiming, "If you want to play softball, I suggest we get going. Of course, I'm all for doing something else... but you said no sex while we're pregnant, because it's creepy. So, unless you want to take back your words..."

Casey's face soured as she grabbed her bat and headed for the door, shaking her head. "No way, Stabler. It _is_ creepy. Now, come on! I don't want to be late _again_, Alex'll kill me."

SVUSVUSVU

Tossing the ball between her hands, Casey shared a look with Abbie before turning her gaze back to home plate. When she hit the six month mark, Casey had been remanded to the position of pitcher, and this was her last game until she gave birth. Right now, she was playing with on one the lawyer teams- Alex, Abbie, Serena, Tracey, Kelly, and herself. They were going against a team made of SVU and homicide, and, to Casey's delight, the lawyer's were winning by two.

"Olivia!" she called as the detective walked up, bat in hand. "Ready to taste my curveball?"

"Only if you're ready to taste defeat!" she shouted back. Chuckling under her breath, Casey tossed the ball upwards as she cracked her knuckles, glancing around at the bases uncomfortably. One good hit and the cops would score four points.

"Well, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen," she muttered under her breath before catching the ball, relaxing her shoulders, then throwing the ball to Olivia. The detective hit the ball with a loud crack and took off around the bases, and Casey's hands shot up to protect her face as the ball soared straight for her. Last thing she saw before she blacked out was the baseball bouncing off her forehead...

SVUSVUSVU

"Caaaasey..."

Casey heard someone calling softly for her and groaned, shaking her head. "Uh-uh. Five more minutes..."

"You're not asleep, Casey," someone said and this time, there were other people mumbling things as well.

"'M sorry, Your Honor... whatever you say..."

People chuckled quietly and someone tugged on her arm. "You're not in court, Case... guess again."

Growing annoyed with whoever was keeping her from sleep, Casey forced her eyes open and instantly recoiled from the bright light, holding a hand over her eyes. People sighed in relief and whoever had been talking to her earlier let go of her arm. "Unhh... where am I?"

"Softball game."

"Softball game?" Casey repeated in confusion, struggling to sit up and groaning when she felt a headache starting to come on. Lawyers and cops alike all moved back except for Olivia, who was kneeling next to her and watching her with an expression mixed with amusement and concern. "Why am I on the ground?"

Alex laughed and stepped forward when Olivia reverted her gaze to the ground and blushed, exclaiming, "My fiancé' hit you in the head. She hit the ball and it went straight for you. If I didn't know any better I would say she was aiming for you."

"Alex!" Olivia hissed, glaring at her before looking back at Casey. "Yeah, sorry. How do you feel?"

Grimacing, Casey slowly managed to get to her feet, swaying slightly before Olivia caught her. "Ow. I am going home and putting ice on my face."

The lawyers and cops exchanged nervous glances before Olivia prompted, "Um... Case? I really don't think you should be going home. Look." She put her hand on Casey's head for a second, then showed it to her-

"Oh my god! What the hell?" she exclaimed, feeling the wound for herself before staring at the scarlet blood on her dusty hands. "What the- I thought you guys said- how-"

"It hasn't stopped bleeding since I hit you a couple minutes ago. We probably should get you checked out at the hospital."

"No... Elly can drive me home. I'm fine."

Alex and Olivia stared at each other for a moment before the latter said, "Elly? Yeah, we definitely need to get you to a doctor. Alex, a little help here?" The blond nodded and led the way off the field while Olivia put her hand on the small of Casey's back, steadying her when she almost fell down again.

"Casey- Casey, no, not that way," Alex said, her voice torn between laughter and worry as the ADA almost pitched forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her upright. "First she calls Elliot 'Elly' and now she can't walk? Wow. You really did a number on her, Liv."

"Shut up, Lex," Olivia muttered, wiping the blood guiltily on her shirt. "You're the one who won't have to deal with her husband glaring at you all day tomorrow."

"I thought _Elly_ was at a conference," Alex said, smirking as she said what was likely to become Elliot's new nickname."

"No, he will be, in half an hour. And he gets back tomorrow at noon. No, I don't know what genius thought up an all-night conference and why Cragen decided to make Elliot be the one to go, since he's the one with the pregnant wife, but none of us were going to dispute his decision. We all cheered."

Alex hesitated when they got to her car, then pulled Casey with her to the back and called, "If this one gets any blood on my leather interior, Olivia, you are so going to pay. This car was expensive."

Olivia just rolled her eyes, starting the engine and driving off to the nearest hospital.

SVUSVUSVU

"She just has a minor concussion, but her baby is just fine. We stitched up her head, but we're going to have keep her here for observation overnight unless she has someone to go home with...?"

"We'll take her," Olivia said automatically. Alex glanced at her and nodded slightly, and the doctor smiled gratefully.

"Good, because she was putting up one hell of a fight about staying here. I'll take you to her and get her discharge papers." The doctor led them to one of the exam rooms and opened the door for them, then left.

Casey was sitting on the exam table, her back to them, tapping her finger impatiently on her leg. The moment she heard the door open, she jumped to the ground and whirled around. The cut on her head was covered by a white bandage and she seemed paler then usual, but other then that, she was fine. "Liv, Alex! You guys gotta help me! The doctor wants to make me _sleep_ here! Come on, please, you've gotta spring me, I'm begging you here."

"I don't know, Case," Alex said doubtfully, a teasing smile starting to spread across her face. "A night in the hospital could do you some good. And Olivia and I did have plans tonight..."

Casey blanched and shook her head desperately, crying, "I swear I won't bother you guys- hell, if you want to tie me up in you living room and blindfold me, I don't care, I'll let you, I promise I'll be absolutely silent and won't say a word, but _please_ let me go home with you!"

"Tie you up and blindfold you? You know, Casey, that's always been a fantasy of mine..." Alex said seductively and Casey paled, eyes widening in shock as she took a hesitant step backwards.

"Um, you know what, you can just tell the doctor you're taking me home and then I'll split and go to my apartment, really, it doesn't really-"

"Oh, relax, Casey," Olivia said, smiling slightly at Alex before continuing, "You're coming home with us and that's final. Don't worry, no one's going to be tied up or having sex in the next room- but you _have_ to tell one of us if you get dizzy or nauseous at _all_, all right?"

"Yes, mother."

"Hey, I'm just remembering last time I brought you home from the hospital with a concussion. You didn't mention anything to me but I wake up in the middle of the night to find you throwing up on the floor. I don't want to have to find a new maid of honor."

Casey smiled, displaying herself to the detective. "Hey, you know me- if you want this package to be picture perfect for your guys' wedding, then you're going to have to take care of me, because I'm certainly not going to do it."

Olivia was about to reply when Alex said, "That doctor better hurry up before my fiancé falls for someone who _said_ she was straight. Are you sure you've never hit on a girl, Casey, because you're good at it."

"Well, there was this one time, but she was the tuition girl and I needed an extension, so I- oh, snap... um, I have a concussion, I don't know what I'm saying." Alex and Olivia were both staring at her in shock, so she quickly tried to change the subject. "So, um, what's up with your apartment nowadays? Still got that leak?"

"First of all, utter failure, Casey. Second of all- _you_ hit on a _girl_? That's it, spill it now, Miss 'I'm straight'!' Casey groaned, then perked up when the doctor walked in, smiling in relief. "Don't think we're not getting this out of you later, girl," Alex muttered, winking at Olivia before looking up at the doctor.

"Here you go, Mrs. Stabler just sign here, here, and here, and come back a week from now to get your stitches removed. Now, if you start bleeding again or feel especially dizzy or nauseous, then you need to come back to the hospital right away. Also, you can't be driving right now, so someone's going to have to drive you around. I wouldn't advise going to work, but hey, it's your choice. I suppose that's it, so, have a good rest of the night, Mrs. Stabler."

Casey sprawled her signature across the pages then led the way outside, almost bumping in the door. Rattling off a list of swear words under her breath, which grew even louder at Alex and Olivia's snickers, Casey stomped out towards the registration desk and practically threw them at the nurse before pointing at Olivia and saying, "You. Are. Dead. Just wait, Benson. I have my softball bat in your car and believe me, I am not afraid to use it!"

"Please, I have a gun. Case closed."

"We'll see about that..."

Coming up next: Olivia assumes the worst and Casey overreacts to a visitor in her office.

*I know a woman eight months pregnant wouldn't be playing softball or doing half the stuff Casey did in this chapter. See, here's the thing- when I was writing the first several chapters of this thing, Casey was four months pregnant. Then I had to change it for something you'll find out later. But I didn't want to rewrite the first half of the story. So, sorry it's so unrealistic


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Reviews always make my day

**Chapter 2**

Casey jerked awake on the couch, staring up into the darkness. Damn it. She was starving- and really, really wanted some pound cake.

"Stupid god-forsaken cravings..." she muttered under her breath as she got to her feet and walked into the kitchen, fumbling around for a light-switch. Alex had showed her the cake that she had bought as a present for her one year anniversary, but their celebration had been interrupted by calls from both the precinct and the DA's office. Alex had told her to help herself, so long as she didn't leave a mess.

"Damn it, light-switch, where are you?" Casey mumbled, feeling blindly along the wall when she thought she heard a noise. Hesitating, she stopped moving and listened for a moment, but when she heard nothing, Casey resumed her search with a shrug.

"NYPD, hands on your head!" Casey screamed when something collided her, pushing her to the floor and forcing her arms above her head. Groaning as her shoulder burned in protest, Casey tried to roll away right before whoever it was grabbed a fistful of her hair and pushed her head up against the ground painfully hard. The lights flickered on, but Casey's head was twisted in such a way that she couldn't see whoever was pinning her to the floor.

"Oh- oh my god-"

"_Liv_? What the hell are you doing?"

"Never mind what she's doing, what the hell is going on out here?" Demanded another voice from the doorway. Casey looked up sheepishly at Alex, who was watching them both, her hair in a tangled halo around her head and arms crossed as she tapped her foot impatiently. "Olivia, I don't know if that black smudge is your gun, but if it is, put it away and you, blondie, you'd best get out of here before I kill you both."

"Alex- Lex, it's Casey. Remember? You said she could spend the night..."

"Yeah," Casey grunted, gritting her teeth as her shoulder continued to ache. "Um, Liv? Not to- ow- intrude here, but- god- mind getting off me?"

Olivia stayed where she was for a moment longer, then gasped and immediately rolled to the side, allowing Casey to tenderly pull her arms down and let them drop to the floor with a groan.

"Oh... sorry. I can't see without my glasses. Olivia, why were you on top of Casey?"

Blushing guiltily, Olivia went to go get Alex's glasses as she said, "I heard something and thought she was a perp. Tackled her before I found out it was Casey- here you go, Lex." Alex put on her glasses and blinked several times to clear her vision before staring down at Casey, who was still lying on her back. Olivia tried to pull her to her feet but stopped when the ADA let out a soft cry of pain. "Case? You all right?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," she said after a moment. "Fine. Think I just pulled a muscle. It'll be fine in a couple days." Casey got unsteadily to her feet, rubbing her aching shoulder and head alternatively as her headache started coming back.

"What were you doing up anyways?" Alex asked, leaning back next to the light switch- which was right next to doorway. Right where Casey had been searching. Groaning, Casey tried to keep her messy hair out of her eyes, with little to no success.

"Pound cake."

"At 1 in the morning?" she scoffed skeptically.

Casey gestured at her stomach, explaining, "Cravings." Alex immediately drifted away, muttering something about having to clean the ceiling, and Olivia laughed, shaking her head.

"Alex doesn't like hearing pregnant woman talk about the side affects. We decided that, once we get married, we decided that she's going to be the one to carry the baby, since her job is much safer than mine... let's just say she's torn between looking forward to it and dreading it."

"Ah, it has it's good parts. Anyways, you two go back to bed. Just don't hear things that go bump in the night and come try to kill me again. My head's already killing me, Liv; one more strike and I'll actually kill you this time, I swear I will."

Olivia scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Case, you always say that, yet you never do. Although I _am_ sorry about hitting you earlier with my ball... and almost shooting you. How about you just not mention this whole thing to your husband when he gets back? You know that, if you don't kill me, he will."

Grinning, the ADA got the pound cake out of the fridge and started eating it hungrily, keeping her eyes on Olivia. "I don't know," she said between bites. "What's in it for me?"

"Well... if I die, you don't get to be anyone's maid of honor- and Alex will kill you. And you, being the good Catholic girl that you are, wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone's death, now would you?"

"First of all, I'm Catholic by birth, not by practice, and second of all, if you think I couldn't take Alex, then-"

"Assistant District Attorney Casey Stabler, if you do not shut up _right_ now and let me go to sleep, I am going to _show_ you that you could _never_ take me, _ever_!" Alex shouted from the other room. "And that goes for you too, Benson!"

"She's not kidding, so we'd both better shut up," Olivia murmured. "Night, Casey."

"Night." When Olivia left, Casey leaned back against the counter and continued devouring the cake, still too hyped up from Olivia tackling her earlier to go back to sleep. "Baby, you're gonna make me eat myself to death, aren't you?" she whispered, rubbing her stomach lightly. Chuckling softly, she washed the now empty plate and turned off the light, debating whether or not to tell Elliot about today. True, his overprotective nature was annoying at times, but his reaction to this would likely be amusing. Sitting down on the couch again, Casey kicked up her feet and stared at what was probably the wall, though it was too dark to see, just closing her eyes and hoping sleep would come to her.

SVUSVUSVU

"Benson, I heard about what happened yesterday! Enjoying your last hour alive?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Olivia said sagely as she sat down at her desk, glaring at Munch. Fin walked over from the coffee maker carrying two cups and shaking his head.

"Yes, you do. You gave the new Mrs. Stabler a little head injury yesterday, now didn't you?" Olivia transferred her glare to him before grabbing the coffee he was offering to Munch and taking a huge gulp before spewing it across the desk.

"God damn it! What the hell was that? I thought you took it black, Munch!"

"I do," he said, staring accusingly at Fin.

He laughed, walking back to his desk. "Well, he got my coffee order wrong yesterday, so I decided to get his wrong today. And it looks like there's reason number 3 Stabler's gonna kill you when he gets back- you ruined his... everything."

Olivia shrugged guiltily, then froze. Reason number 3? How would he know about last night... unless? "Wait a second, did you guys talk to Casey?"

"Didn't have to," Fin said, smirking. "My partner with no life was...um... in the neighborhood, and he saw you and Alex leave with our ADA this morning. Having an affair with his wife? His _pregnant_ wife, nonetheless? You have no class, Olivia."

"I have no class? What about Munch? He was the one spying on me! What the hell were you doing 'in our neighborhood' to begin with?"

Munch bit his lip and looked down, and Olivia was about to pry the truth from him when Cragen stalked over and said, "Munch was there with his new girlfriend, Clara Ross, she works in accounting. He was leaving for work when he saw you, Alex, and Casey catching a cab, so he proceeded to call Fin and tell him about it like a gossiping little girl. Olivia, you hit Casey with a baseball and put her in the hospital. Fin, you tried to make Munch throw up your disgusting coffee but failed. Elliot... yeah, he's not here. Now, will you all stop playing around and do your jobs? We've got a victim at Hudson Medical. Come on."

Blushing furiously, Olivia grabbed her gun and hurried out of the precinct, casting another glare in the others' direction.

SVUSVUSVU

Casey pulled on her trench coat and started to leave her office, only to run into yet another lawyer from yesterday's softball game. "Oh... Casey... damn, I thought you wouldn't be here..."

"Bashkir, if you thought I wouldn't be in here, then why are you in my office?"

The Russian shifted nervously, setting the cardboard box aside. "Um... I- well, see, I..."

"Wait a second!" Casey grabbed the box, then stared at him in shock. "You came here to loot my office, didn't you?" Bashkir stepped back again, and Casey glared at him accusingly. "You did! You knew they had to take me to the hospital yesterday and thought I wouldn't be at work, so you came by to loot my office!"

Bashkir took off down the hallway, and Casey shouted after him, "Yeah, you run away." Throwing the box to the floor in disgust, Casey locked the door, then stormed off down to Branch's office. She had told him that new hire was a creep, but had he listened? _No_.

"Mrs. Stabler!"

Casey squealed in excitement, whirling around straight into Elliot's arms. "You're early!"

"Mmmhmm. Guy at the conference had a stroke, so it's rescheduled, and I am _not_ going to that... Case, what happened to your head?" Casey felt the bandage uncertainly, then started pulling him back to her office.

"Softball incident. Don't worry about it. Anyways, I think that's been on there long enough..." Casey bit her lip, then ripped the bandage off. "_Ow_!" She dropped the bloody piece of gauze into the abandoned box, then smiled at Elliot and asked nervously, "Well? Is it bleeding?"

He raised an eyebrow as he tenderly felt the cut, shaking his head. "No, and three stitches? Sounds like more than just a little softball incident. Come on, I'll take you down to the precinct while you tell me about it."

"Okay, and why am I going to the precinct? I need to stay and protect my office."

"Why does your office need protection?"

Casey shoved him back playfully, rolling her eyes. "You're not supposed to answer a question with a question. That's a lawyer thing. You just get to repeat the same questions over and over until your perp dies of boredom. Anyways, people are trying to steal my stuff, so I need to stay here and scare anyone else off with my bat."

Elliot paused, then just shook his head. "I shouldn't have even gotten up this morning... anyways, Warner's doing an autopsy and wants us there. No, I don't know why but she said it was important."

Sighing, Casey was about to let Elliot lead her outside when she got an idea. Raising her hand up to stop him, she dug around in her desk for a red sharpie a crumpled up poster board from her last case, then chuckled evilly. "Yeah, we'll see who's robbing my office after this, Bashkir..." she muttered as she wrote a warning message on the poster board, then leaned it up against one of her bookcases and stepped back to observe her handiwork.

Elliot stood next to her, staring at it for a second, then bursting into laughter. "'Do NOT touch my stuff, I am watching you, Casey Stabler'... Really?"

"What? You mess with me, you're starting a war. A war with a pregnant, bat-wielding lawyer who's not afraid to play dirty. Now, come on, let's go. I want to know what's got Melinda asking for us."

Coming up next: Action begins and hostages are taken. As always, I love reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

I love all reviews! You guys are awesome

**Chapter 3**

"Oh, Elliot, hi- and I'm walking this way, goodbye-"

"Wait up, Liv!" Elliot called, pulling her back. "You've been avoiding me- what did I do?"

Olivia groaned and started walking with him and Casey, who winked mischievously at her and grinned. "Um... it's not really what you did so much as me... why don't you ask your wife, she looks like she's been dying to tell you. Counselor, I'm warning you, be nice, because I could so blackmail you, if I wanted."

"Are you threatening an officer of the court? Looks like I've got some blackmail-worthy material of my own..." Casey laughed, then explained what happened for Elliot. "Yesterday, during the game, Olivia's ball hit me in the head. The doctor said I had to stay with someone, so she and Alex made me stay the night at their place, and when I had a craving in the middle of the night, Olivia heard me get up and thought I was a perp... I ended up on the ground with a gun to my head. And then we woke Alex up..."

Elliot burst out laughing, staring at Casey and Olivia in shock. "I don't know what's better, Liv tackling my wife or Alex woken up in the middle of the night! What'd she do?"

"Well, at first she couldn't even see us since she forgot her glasses, and then when she went back to bed and we were still talking she practically screamed at us to both shut up before she killed us. Of course, she doesn't remember any of this when she wakes up..."

"Quiet, both of you!" Casey ordered. "I have work that's sitting on my desk, not getting done, so I want to find out why Melinda wants to see us and get back to my office! Besides that, I want to keep my stuff safe, so shut up!" Chuckling, Elliot and Olivia followed Casey into the morgue, where Melinda was already waiting for them.

"Hey, you two. Olivia, if you're looking for Alex, she's over there. Anyways-"

"Alex?" exclaimed Olivia, wondering over to the blond, who was standing behind her assistant and nodding encouragingly. "What are you doing here?"

Alex slipped an arm around Olivia's shoulders as she murmured, "My assistant caught a case mixed in with the murder. I fought for jurisdiction with Homicide and won, but now Julia has to learn how to handle dead bodies. I've got a bet with Melinda she'll hurl. You want in?"

Melinda led Elliot and Casey over to the body she was currently working on, gesturing at the bloody mess. "Elliot, you're here because I need to give you the results of my autopsy for my current case. Casey, you're here because I can't testify tomorrow, my brother just rescheduled his wedding."

Casey threw her hands up in exasperation, groaning theatrically. "For when, tomorrow? Melinda, I can't change my court date just because one of my star witnesses has a brother getting married- seriously, you think Judge Donnelly will let me pull that off, she wouldn't grant me a continuance when my star witness was _kidnapped_, for god's sake, and if you think she's going to-"

"Look, I know it's really bad timing, but I'm sorry, my brother's fiancé already has me as a bridesmaid and I-"

"_Alex!_" Casey whirled around at Olivia's scream, then froze in horror.

The blond was passed out in Olivia's arms, a trickle of blood running from a cut on her forehead. A uni was standing next to them, holding his hands up in surrender, a tall woman holding what was most likely his gun and pointing it at Olivia.

One of the MEs screamed and ran for the door, freezing when the woman fired a shot off. It ricocheted off the metal tables and whistled by Casey's ear, so close it tore the skin, before burying itself in one of the corpses. Casey gave a surprised gasp as her hand flew up to feel the damage, breathing a sigh of relief when everything was where it was supposed to be. "I'm fine, El, it's just a graze," she whispered as he started to reach for her in concern.

"No!" the woman shouted, unaware of their little exchange. "No one leaves! You and you, barricade the doors- the rest of you, up against that wall!" When no one moved, she screamed, "_Now_!"

Wrapping his arms around her protectively, Elliot led Casey to the wall, getting in front of her as Melinda and Olivia, who was carrying an unconscious Alex, followed, everyone else drifting over in their general direction.

"Liv, put Alex down," Melinda murmured, getting down on her knees next to the detective as she gently lay Alex down on the floor. "What happened? Was she shot?" Elliot got on Alex's other side as Casey knelt at her head, watching anxiously.

"No- no, um, she, the woman with the gun, her name's Lindsey- I think her son was one of the bodies, the ME's office called her in to identify him and she just freaked out and grabbed the rent-a-cop's gun... but Alex, Alex tried to stop her, but that bitch whacked her in the head with the gun and she just passed out-"

"Shut _up_!" Lindsey screamed, pointing the gun at them. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

Melinda waited for her to look away before whispering so quietly only the four of them could hear, "I can't be sure, but I think nothing's wrong, she'll just be out for a while. Elliot, I need you to get my briefcase over there, it has the stuff I need to clean the wound and everything..."

Elliot nodded without hesitation and was about to get up when Casey caught his wrist, staring at him with eyes full of concern. He nodded, understanding her unspoken plea and promising that he would come back safely, then got slowly to his feet.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Lindsey screamed, whirling around to face him, the gun wavering slightly but still pointed at him.

Raising his hands to show her he was unarmed, Elliot said, "I'm just going to get the doctor's medical supplies. A woman's hurt and we need to make sure she's okay."

Lindsey hesitated, then waved him on and backed away, still pointing her gun at him. "You have ten seconds!" Elliot rushed forward, counting hostages as he ran. Not including Olivia, Melinda, Casey, Alex, and himself, there were 10 MEs and one very frightened ADA huddled up on the floor, but no one was injured besides Alex.

Elliot dug through the bags and grabbed the one he hoped was Melinda's and rushed back to his corner, where they were currently using a file from Casey's briefcase to try and staunch the bleeding. "Here you go, Melinda-"

"Hurry!" Olivia exclaimed, and the state she was in made her forget to keep her voice low.

"Hey! I thought I told you all to shut up!" Lindsey stormed other to them and kept changing targets, as if she was unsure who to shoot. Casey's hand shot protectively to her stomach- _this bitch can shoot me all she likes, but not my baby, not my son..._

Glaring at them, Lindsey hissed, "I hear one more word out of you, I will kill you all, you got that?" Melinda waited until she walked away again to hand a bottle full of a clear liquid to Elliot and demonstrate pouring it over Alex's wound. When Elliot stared at her, confused, Casey grabbed her legal pad and a pen out of her briefcase and shoved it at the ME.

Melinda wrote, _Clean the wound! You do know how, right? _Elliot nodded and poured some of the solution onto Alex's skin while Melinda passed out some latex gloves and got some gauze out of her bag. _Put these on I'll stitch it up KC bandage it Liv monitor vitals K?* _They all nodded, and the moment Elliot was done cleaning the wound Melinda started to stitch it up. Casey wondered for a second why she carried all these supplies around with her, then realized it didn't matter. Right now, this was about Alex and saving Alex's life.

When Melinda put in two stitches before Casey carefully situated the bandage over the wound, glancing nervously at Olivia, who was holding her fingers to Alex's neck and staring intently at her watch. Olivia grabbed the paper and wrote,_ when will she wake up?_

Melinda wrote back, _cant say should be soon. I dont think theres a concussion but i cant be sure keep monitoring her pulse. _She looked around at them all, her gaze resting on Casey before she scirrbled a message and gave it to Elliot. He read it then stuffed it into his pocket, nodding at Melinda before looking nervously at Casey too.

Elliot answered Casey's questioning look with a small smile, his mind on Melinda's note. _KC could have a stress-induced miscarriage or- worse- go into labor right here and now. Don't tell her, but we have to keep her calm. I don't have the materials to keep a premature newborn alive, and I couldn't even guarantee Casey's survival.*_

SVUSVUSVU

"One of my rookies texted me, there's a hostage situation in the morgue- I want every captain in this room up here to identify everybody on our view of autopsy, now! Everybody else, get out of this building!"

Cragen fought to get through to the front, freezing in shock when he finally was able to see the screen.

Among the ten or so MEs was Alex's assistant, and in one corner was Elliot, Olivia, Casey, Melinda, and Alex. Olivia was crying silently into Alex's neck, Casey had both her hands on her stomach protectively, Melinda was taking Alex's pulse and Elliot was rubbing Casey's back comfortingly and glaring at the hostage-taker.

He rushed to the captain of the SWAT team, exclaiming, "Those are my people! The unconscious blond, that's Alexandra Cabot, Bureau Chief for White Collar, the other blond is her assistant, Julia Carter. The pregnant one is Casey Stabler, SVU ADA, the ME with them is Melinda Warner, and the other two are Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson- do you know what's wrong with Alex?"

"No sir, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave-"

"Oh hell no. Those are my people," he repeated coldly. "I'm staying here."

The SWAT guy nodded slightly but ordered, "Stay out of our way," before going back over to the screen, where cops are jumping up and down in their attempts to see who was being held hostage.

Groaning, Cragen fell back against the wall, closing his eyes. In all his years of experience, he had been in some pretty tough spots. Been shot a few times, gone through a couple high speed chases. He'd seen his detectives held at gunpoint and put in more danger then he could stand.

But this was the worst it had ever been.

Now, his pregnant daughter was with four others of his children, one of whom was already unconscious. True, he didn't work closely with Alex anymore, but when she had risked her career when Garcia kidnapped Casey last year, it had been clear that it didn't matter who she worked with, they would always be family.

And he didn't know if he would ever see them alive again.

Coming up next: Alex wakes up and SWAT gets a hostage negotiator to talk with Lindsey. Note 1: Yes, I do have a knowledge of the English language, but I doubt Melinda and them would spend time writing out all the correct spellings and such. And it took my friend about twenty minutes to realize that KC was short for Casey, so I'm telling you now. Note 2: I'm basing that off the SVU episode 'Birthright' (I think that was it) when Elliot said Kathy went into labor when she was only eight months pregnant because she saw he was involved in a shootout on TV. So if I'm wrong, blame Dick Wolf, not me.


	4. Chapter 4

I love all you guys for reviewing. Unfortunately, I can't give you anything besides another chapter, so…

**Chapter 4**

Elliot watched Casey nervously- she seemed calm enough. He was holding her hand, to comfort her and- the ulterior motive- to monitor her pulse. It was holding steady and was a little high, but he knew he couldn't tell her about the risk to the baby. If he did, Casey would panic, and no one would be able to calm her down.

To make matters worse, even if Melinda had drugs that could keep her calm and _if_ they could get to them, if they used a syringe, they would be useless. Casey still hadn't completely dealt with her kidnapping last year, and one of the long-standing hurdles had been being able to get injected with even a placebo from a syringe and not almost go into a panic attack. Elliot doubted she ever would be able to remain calm if put into that situation, which was fine... normally. But here, giving her something to keep her calm would only result in her growing more panicked.

And as if she wasn't already dealing with enough, Alex still hadn't regained consciousness. Ever since Alex's return from witness protection, she and Casey had gotten almost as close as the Casey and Olivia. Now, they were all being held hostage together, with Alex bleeding from the head. Elliot wasn't sure how much more Casey would be able to handle before something happened to the baby.

Casey cast another glare at Elliot before returning her attention to Alex. He was holding her hand in some lame attempt to cover up the fact he was taking her pulse. Ever since he crumpled up that note Melinda gave him, he had been excruciatingly careful around her, like she was a stupid kid. Casey was tempted to slap him and scream, _'I am not a kid! I am not! I am not! I am not!'_ But, somehow, she didn't that would go over very well with Lindsey.

"Mmm..." Olivia gasped and looked down at Alex as she moaned again, Melinda clapping a hand over the blond's mouth and glancing nervously up at Lindsey. One long moment later, Alex's eyes fluttered open and she tried to talk through Melinda's hand.

Melinda held a finger to her lips and brought her hand away, writing a message to Alex while Olivia helped her sit up, shifting so she was between her lover and Lindsey. Alex looked around in confusion, gasping when she saw Lindsey and the gun.

Casey felt the baby kick and resisted the urge to tell him it was going to be okay. She rubbed her stomach worriedly, drawing her knees up as much as she could as if to protect her son from Lindsey. If this bitch so much as strayed near him, Casey didn't care how protective Elliot was, she was going to kill Lindsey herself.

Melinda and Alex were now conversing in sign language, which left the rest of them in the dark, but saved the time of writing their messages down. _How long was I out? _Alex signed to Melinda.

_Couple of minutes, maybe- none of us we're looking at a clock. Tell me if you feel sick to your stomach or anything else, all right? _

Alex nodded, then glanced nervously at Casey before signing, _Is Casey okay? You know, with the baby?_

_Yes, but try and keep her calm. I know, hostage situation and pregnancy hormones make this almost impossible, but if she gets too stressed out, she could lose the baby or go into labor- and don't tell her about this. It will scare the hell out of her and I doubt anything could keep her calm then. _

Casey was getting sick of everybody talking about her and refusing to tell her what was wrong, but she knew it would be impossible for her to find out this great big secret right now. Once this was over, she was going to kill Elliot unless he told her, though.

"Ma'am? My name is Maria. I'm the hostage negotiator," a voice called from the other side of the door. Lindsey jumped, turning her back to the hostages and pointing her gun at the door.

"What do you want?"

"Ma'am, the police sent me to get some information, that's all. I'm not armed and I'm not going to try to get inside. You know my name; do you want to tell me yours?"

Lindsey hesitated, then shouted, "You tell your fancy police to look at Evan Clark's file! I'm his mother!"

There was silence for a long second, and Casey was about to give up on Maria completely when she called, "Lindsey Clark? Is that your name?"

"Yes! Yes, that's my name, and you bastards killed my son!"

Immediately Maria tried to sooth her. "Of course, ma'am, of course we did. But I need to talk to you about releasing some of your hostages, like the one that's injured and the one that's pregnant. They're not cops; they have no part in this."

"Oh yeah? What about all those doctors? They're not cops either, don't you care about them?"

"Ma'am, my job is to ensure everybody's safety here, not just innocent civilians. But I need you to help me out here- I'll try and give you something you want, but in return, you have to release at least Ms. Cabot and Mrs. Stabler, all right?"

Lindsey screamed, "If you can give me back my son, I'll release every single one of my hostages right now! But, otherwise, just leave me alone! I don't want any money or whatever else you have to offer."

Alex got to her feet and shouted, "Look, lady, we can't raise your son from the dead! You're holding fifteen hostages, and for what? If you start shooting, they'll kill you! You'd only hit one or two-" Lindsey shot at her, the bullet missing her head by no less than an inch, and Olivia tackled Alex to the floor.

"Maybe I'll start by killing you, bitch! You don't have any kids, you don't know what those bastards did to me! But... but you, you're pregnant- surely, you can imagine-" She pleaded desperately, and it took Casey a second to realize who she was talking to.

_Shit. _"Um... yeah... yeah, I can imagine, it must be horrible..."

"Yeah, like words can describe it..." Casey waited for her to go on uncertainly, and when she didn't, she gratefully kept her mouth shut and breathed a sigh of relief. Talking with a gun-wielding maniac was not high on her list of things to do.

Elliot was staring at her, his eyes full of that annoying worry again. Giving him another reassuring nod, Casey reverted her eyes to Lindsey, who had started pacing back and forth, eyeing her hostages and running a shaking finger along her gun.

SVUSVUSVU

"For the _last_ time, just review the tape before the bullet took it out! We need to know if it hit anyone!"

"I'm _trying_!" O'Hallorean muttered, freezing the tape moments before they lost video and zooming in on the group of SVU protégées in the corner. "Playing frame-by-frame..."

Cragen shuddered when he saw just how close the bullet came to Alex's head, watching as it ricocheted off the back wall and flew towards the camera before the screen turned to static.

"Okay, I don't think it hit anybody, but now we've lost video! If we hear another shot, how are we gonna know if it takes somebody out?"

"You let me worry about that," he muttered crossly before heading over to Ross Kavon, captain of the SWAT team. "Sir, any progress with the hostage negotiator?"

Ross shook his head without looking up from the blueprints. "When you're lawyer decided to make it her job to get herself killed, Sanchez decided it'd be best if we wait a couple more minutes before trying to establish contact-"

"Wait a couple minutes? How the hell can she think that's a good idea? How the hell can you _let_ her think that's a good idea? You've got a woman who's eight months pregnant, a woman who's injured, two of the cities finest, and about a dozen others who work for the city trapped in there! Just how much worse does the situation need to get before you concede it's out of hand!"

"Captain Cragen, I'm not saying it's under control, but I'm in charge here and I ordered Sanchez to go with her gut, and if that means to stand down, then we'll stand down! But right now, she's our best- and only- bet, and may I remind you that the only reason you're even still here is because I gave the okay? One word from me and you're out, Captain!"

Biting his tongue to stop a flurry of insults that would probably get him suspended, Cragen stalked back to Ryan, who was currently going over the previous tapes of the morgue. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously, repressing a surge of anger when he saw Lindsey waving the gun at his detectives.

"Trying to see if Stabler or Benson has their guns. If they-"

"Don't bother. With Stabler's temper, he would have blown her away by now, if he did. Get me a copy of those blueprints- I want to see if there's another way into that morgue..."

Coming up next: Alex pushes Lindsey too far and the situation goes from bad to crisis. And sorry, I know the chapters are short, but I didn't know how to draw the scenes out and I didn't want five thousand things happening in each chapter.

Okay, Alex is going to be unbelievably OOC in this and the next few chapters- once again, sorry. I originally wrote the scene for Casey, but when I had to make her 8 months instead of 4 months pregnant, I had to change characters. So just imagine it's Casey arguing with her- or, better yet, I'll say the head injury made Alex into a stubborn, doesn't-know-when-to-shut-up, fiery bitch. Sorry. 


	5. Chapter 5

You guys are awesome! VampirePrincess86: 3 and a half pages=close enough! And update! 

**Chapter 5**

Lindsey had finally calmed down again when someone called, "Ma'am? It's Maria again. I know that you don't want to let go of any hostages, but can you at least consider releasing Ms. Cabot or-"

"No! For the last time, no! If you keep asking I am going to kill one of them!"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry I asked. But, ma'am, the police are telling me that they are going to come in there shooting very soon unless you release one of the hostages, and I know you don't want that to happen. I can give you a couple minutes to think about what you want to do, but, ma'am, I won't be able to stop the police from coming in there unless you give me something here, okay?"

"Just shut up!" she screamed, her hand that held the gun trembling so much she could have shot somebody just by accident.

Alex bit her lip hesitantly, then jumped to her feet and shouted, "Look, you can either put this off or deal with it now, but the SWAT team is going to come kill us all unless you decide to play a nice game called let us the hell go, we didn't do anything to you!"

"You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?"

Olivia tried to pull Alex back, the blond yanked her arm out of Olivia's grasp and exclaimed, "Yeah, well maybe I don't, but this is ridiculous! First of all, _we_ didn't kill your son, and I really don't think the cops did either! Second of all, if you've got a vendetta against cops, why don't you, I don't know, take _cops_ hostage? You've doctors and lawyers and a couple of just plain civilians stashed up in here!" Elliot and Olivia didn't have their guns with them; hopefully Lindsey would buy her bluff about them not being cops.

"You're not helping yourself much here!"

"You know what-"

"_Alex_!" Olivia shouted, this time yanking her fiancé back and glaring at her. "_Sit_. _Down_."

Lindsey stalked over to them and snarled, "First, you, shut it. Let her say what she wants to say. I wanna see just how stupid this one is." Alex made to punch her, but Olivia held her back, this time with Elliot's help.

"Let go of me!"

"All of you, just be quiet!" Lindsey grabbed Alex by the collar and pulled her away from Olivia and Elliot, glaring into her cold blue eyes. "If you've got something to say, then you can say it to my face!"

Ignoring Olivia's frantic stare and panicked attempts to make her _shut up_, Alex hissed, "You need to deal with your son's death like a _human being_, which doesn't include taking twenty hostages who had nothing to do with his death! By the way, I'm one of those lawyers who worked to put away your son's killer, so excuse me if I don't see the connection between 'my son died' and 'I'm going to take the people who helped him hostage!'

"You work Homicide, cupcake? Yeah, right."

Alex glared at her, rolling her eyes as she exclaimed, "Who are you calling cupcake? I was _shot_ doing my job! You? You look the type of girl to be-"

"Watch it, or I'll give you another injury related to your job called death!"

"Uh-huh, like you would shoot anybody, you've threatened at least ten times but every time you pull that trigger, it misses! I'm starting to doubt you even know what a gun _is_, because even I wouldn't miss at this close range!"

Everybody, even the MEs, were staring at Alex in openmouthed amazement except for the collections of SVU people in the corner. They were horrified as Alex and Lindsey continued their verbal sparring, Alex getting dangerously close to getting shot every time she opened her mouth. When she practically screamed, "How the hell could you be the mother of a cop, you don't how to shoot and you believe all the conspiracy theorist lies of militias and psychopaths!" Olivia knew she had gone to far.

"_Alex_!" she shouted again, diving into her just as Lindsey fired again.

Unfortunately, Alex jibes about her aim were true, so Olivia's intervention was unnecessary. The bullet sailed through the spot where Alex's hand would have been and buried itself right into Casey's shoulder.

No one moved or said anything for one long moment, all staring at the hole in Casey's jacket. Then, when dark red blood started seeping out of the wound, she convulsed and grabbed her shoulder, moaning through gritted teeth. "Oh shit," she gasped, closing her eyes and groaning again.

"Hang on, Casey, I've got some painkillers," Melinda muttered, digging through her bag as Elliot ripped off Casey's jacket to reveal the damage. Melinda glanced up and said, "Don't think it hit an artery, check for an exit wound."

Casey fell into his arms as Elliot tried to lean her forward, examining her back frantically. "Yeah, I've got one- come on, Casey, stay with me." The ADA bit back a scream when he pressed her jacket against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, and glared at him when he said, "Stay awake for me, Case, just stay awake for me."

"Yeah? I'd like to see you do it!" she hissed in his ear, moaning again as Melinda finally pulled out a syringe.

"It's good that there's an exit wound, but I can't tell you what the damage there, sorry Elliot. Casey, hold still, I'm going to give you a spinal block- it's all I can do, since you're pregnant.."

The moment Casey saw Melinda holding a syringe, she jerkedt back, eyes wide with panic. "No! No needles, damn it! No!" When Melinda approached her again, she knocked the syringe out of her hand, growling, "I said no!"

"Melinda, stop!" Elliot shouted when she tried to come at her again. "She said no!"

"Remember our little agreement earlier? Getting shot equals death for that baby unless I can calm her down, and the only way to calm her down is to give her this shot, and unless-"

"Yeah, well giving her the shot will scare her so much it won't matter what you give her, it'll be too late! You don't go near her with that syringe again, Melinda!"

Casey forced out, "What the hell are you talking about, 'equals death for that baby'?" When no one answered her, she shouted, "What's wrong with my son?" Alex dropped to her knees besides her, sharing a worried glance with Melinda before taking the liberty of explaining.

"Stress-induced miscarriage- or you could go into labor. Casey, if you want to get out of this with your son alive, you have to calm down- damn it, this is what we were afraid of," she muttered when Casey started breathing faster, staring at her stomach in alarm and her eyes widening with panic.

"Casey- Casey, listen to me," Elliot begged, grabbing her hand and trying to meet her fearful gaze. "I want you to breathe with me, all right? In and out, in and out- yeah, that's it... just stay calm for me, Case, that's all."

SVUSVUSVU

"Why don't you, oh, I don't know, actually use your hostage-negotiator for something _useful_? Like finding out who was shot! That's her damn job! So far, all I've seen her do is say 'Yes ma'am, whatever you want, ma'am! Sure, if you wanna kill your hostages, I don't have a problem with it!'"

"Look, Captain, I have a guy trying to get a camera in through the heating duct, but until he does, Sanchez isn't going to try and establish contact again! Every time she does, it ends with gunshots, and-"

"You heard her fighting with Cabot, a gunshot, then nothing, and you still don't think it's _possible_ she was shot? You need to figure out how badly she was hurt before she dies!"

Ross glared at him, shaking his head as he shouted back, "First of all, we don't even know anybody was shot, so I don't know why you think she's dying, and second of all- _I am trying to get a camera in there_! So why don't you just sit back and relax and let me do my damn job?"

Cragen was about two seconds away from shooting this moron, only managing to control his impulse by storming back over to O'Hallorean and giving him a look that just about made him scream like a teenage girl. "Um... brainstorming ways to get a camera in there, got it- wait a minute- Captain, there's a computer in the morgue, right?"

"Yeah, what are you getting at?"

"The webcam!" He exclaimed, now typing frantically on his keyboard, an excited smile playing on his lips. "If I can hack that computer and get access to it's webcam, I can see everything that's going on in there! Damn, it's password protected. Doing random password generator, but it could take some time-"

"We don't have time!" Ryan shrugged helplessly, and Cragen groaned before asking, "How long?"

"Depends. Anywhere from now to... well, longest I've seen this thing run for was three days- don't give me that look, it was for a password with over a thousand possibilities, the most this one could have is-"

"Just tell me when it's done," he said coldly, pulling out his cell to give Munch and Fin an update. They were currently stuck outside, and he was their only source inside to tell them what was going on.

SVUSVUSVU

Elliot tried to stop Casey's tremors, but it was impossible. She closed her eyes and moaned again, clutching her shoulder and screaming through clenched teeth. "Melinda- Melinda, I think she's going into shock- oh my god, help her!"

"You need to calm down too, Elliot. She's not going into shock, and she won't anytime soon, I've already made sure of that. But, _for the last time_, this is not an ER! I've done all I can, but if her condition worsens the only thing I can do is tell you what's going on, I won't be able to help her! _You_ need to convince her to let me give her the shot!"

"Yeah, after what happened last year? I don't think so! God... look, are you sure you don't have anything in pill form that she can take?"

"No, I've really been hiding my stash of life-saving drugs in case I wanted to get high later- yes I'm sure!" Elliot was about to retort when Casey suddenly screamed, throwing her head back and twisting out of Elliot's arms, her face going, if possible, even paler.

"Casey?" he exclaimed, catching her before she hit the floor. "Casey, honey? What's wrong?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was another scream. Gasping for breath, she managed to shout, "_I think I'm going into labor!"_

Coming up next: SWAT team establishes contact and the others try and make Casey wait until they end the hostage situation. And I actually wanted to have Casey not go into labor until AFTER Lindsey was killed or whatever, but I lost a bet with a friend, so... yeah, here's this instead. And if you're wondering why Melinda has all the stuff stashed away in the morgue, I'm actually basing it off an episode of NCIS- the one where Gerald is shot, and Ducky, the ME, has all this random stuff in his desk- morphine, gauze, the whole package. They never explained why the hell he had it in the first place, so I'm just making Melinda do the same and ignoring the fact that she's an ME, not an actual doctor. And I know a spinal tap wouldn't actually do anything since she was shot in the shoulder- well, I needed something with a syringe and that's all I could do because she's pregnant. Sorry


	6. Chapter 6

I love you guys. Also, this chapter won't be that long, and neither will the next one, but- if anyone's interested- I'm working on a Part Four to my series and the first few chapters for that one are pretty long. So… um… yeah.

**Chapter 6**

"Three!" The four lifted Casey up onto one of the autopsy tables, almost dropping her when she screamed again. Lindsey had given them permission to move her, but was watching them like a hawk, still flailing the gun around like an idiot. Melinda came forward with the syringe again, and Elliot shoved her back, shouting, "_Hey_! What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving her life! Now that she's already in labor, she can't have a miscarriage, but she can still die- pain-induced cardio myopathy, which is medical speak for a heart attack unless I get some painkillers into her _now_!"

Despite her condition, Casey maintained enough presence of mind to slap Melinda's arm when she saw the syringe, rolling away. Olivia and Alex caught her before she hit the floor, heaving her back onto the table as Elliot shouted, "Hold her still!" When Casey tried to kick them instead, he threw himself across her feet and added, "Now!"

It took both Olivia and Alex to hold Casey's arms down, narrowly avoiding her attempts to bite them as Elliot called, "Melinda! Now!" Carefully, the doctor found the dark blue vein and stabbed her with the syringe, pushing the drugs into her system. They remained in that position for almost ten seconds, waiting for Casey's struggles to cease. Finally, she slumped back onto the table in exhaustion, gasping for breath.

"S- s- sorry," she said through chattering teeth, closing her eyes from the receding pain.

"That's not gonna last long," Melinda warned. "We have to get her out of here, now."

"Woah woah woah!" Lindsey shouted, stalking over to them. "What are you talking about? No one's going anywhere!"

Elliot glared at her, squeezing Casey's hand before yelling, "What the hell is your problem? You're here because your son died- will, she had nothing to do with his death! And unless you let her go, you'll be responsible for someone else's son dying! Is that what you want?"

"Um... no, but-"

"So what's the problem? Let her go!"

Lindsey's gaze flickered between Casey and Elliot as she hesitated, biting her lip, then nodding nervously. "All right, she can leave- but only her! No one else moves, or I'll kill... I'll kill you!" she shouted, grabbing Alex in a headlock. She may not have been able to aim, but with the gun an inch away for her head, it was impossible to miss.

Olivia reached automatically for her weapon, dashing forward in a panic. "Stay where you are!"

"Alex," she breathed, staring at her in horror. "Alex..."

"What are you waiting for? Get up and leave!" Lindsey shouted, gesturing for Casey to leave.

Elliot helped the ADA off the table, but she glared at him and forced out through gritted teeth, "I am not leaving you alone with-" She broke off and whimpered, Elliot supporting her since she couldn't walk right after getting an epidural.

"Yes, you are," he stated simply, guiding her to the door. "You are not staying here. Come on, keep walking, keep walking." She reached the door, cast him one more worried look, then stepped outside. "Love you!" he shouted after her as she was whisked into the arms of the waiting SWAT team.

SVUSVUSVU

Cragen fought through the thick crowd to the woman the SWAT team was helping walk away. "Casey!" he shouted in alarm, sliding into place next to her and staring at her sweaty, bloody face, shocked. "Casey, what happened?"

"Don! Oh thank god- listen, you have to-" she stopped talking and screamed, collapsing into him. He barely stopped her from taking them both down, immediately fearful that _she_ was the one shot. "They're all fine, but... oh god... Lex has the gun to her head, and- _ah_! I'm going into- oh my god- labor!"

He stared at her as she sank to the floor, one hand grasping her bloody shoulder, the other on her stomach. "Call an ambulance!" he shouted after a moment. "She was shot, I don't want to risk-" Casey's scream drowned out the rest of his order, but one SWAT rookie nodded and headed to one of the radios, calling for a bus.

SVUSVUSVU

"They're bringing someone out!" Fin shouted, trying to see past the EMTs surrounding the stretcher. "Oh god, Munch- it's Casey!"

"Casey!" Munch called, fighting through the EMTs to try and see her. "Casey, what happened?"

"I'm... going into- _ah_!"

One of the EMTs explained, "She was shot and now she's in labor- you guys can't ride along, her contractions are only a minute apart and she's about to give birth- we're taking her to Mercy!"

The ambulance drove away, sirens flashing, and Munch and Fin froze, torn between Casey and the other's still trapped inside. "I'll go," Munch said instantly, giving Fin a small nod. He knew his partner's feeling for their ME, even if they remained unspoken to everyone else. "Call me if anything changes."

"You too..."

SVUSVUSVU

Olivia looked Alex up and down as the blond stumbled back to her, barely regaining her balance after Lindsey's shove. I'm okay, she mouthed, accepting her embrace and whispering in her ear, "I'm fine, Liv, trust me."

Elliot watched Olivia hug her soon-to-be wife eagerly and wished he could do the same with Casey. He had to know what was going on with her, he had to be with her- not knowing was killing him. He fingered the blade on the inside of his belt, remembering the first lesson his Gunnery Seargant in the Core had told him and the rest of the unit. 'Rule number 9: Never go anywhere without a knife.' He had the weapon, now he just had the chance to use it.

Hesitantly, he stepped forward, immediately attracting Lindsey's attention. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" she asked shakily, swiveling the gun to point at him- or, with her aim, at the wall behind him.

"Look I- I really need to leave, the woman that left earlier, she's my wife, please-"

"No! No one is leaving! For the last time-"

"Please, Lindsey, I'm begging you-"

"No!" she screamed, rushing forward furiously. "I've already told you, no one's leaving!" Elliot grinned slightly when he saw how close she was- close enough. He kept the knife pressed against the inside of his wrist as he took a small step forward, then, with lightening speed, pulled her close and stabbed her in the stomach. In the moment she stared at the new wound in shock, Elliot ripped the gun from her hand, backing up and pointing at her.

"Maria!" he shouted, unable to suppress a small smile. "Come on in, I just did your job for you!" Lindsey collapsed, drawing in short, pained breath, and one of the MEs actually made moves to help her.

"Wha- what?" Maria called uncertainly.

"It's Detective Elliot Stabler," he shouted back, resisting the urge to add 'you twit'. "Your hostage taker's down! And I'm walking out, so don't shoot." Glancing back at Olivia, he said, "Get Alex checked out, I'll meet you at the hospital," before dashing to the doors.

Immediately he was buffeted by the SWAT team, the commander himself actually making his way over to Elliot as he tried to get to Cragen. "What hospital?" he shouted, dodging SWAT's questions and attempts to get him away from the morgue.

"Mercy!"

He nodded his thanks and tried to get away, but the commander said, "Detective, you need to be checked out by EMS-"

"I need to be with my wife! Now, get the hell out of my way!"

Coming up next: Little hospital scene with Casey. And I'm sorry, I really meant to draw this out for several chapters, but I got bored with this fic a long time ago, so the next chapter will probably be the last.


	7. Chapter 7

You guys are THE BEST! I never would finish anything if it wasn't for reviews. Last chapter, by the way.

**Chapter 7**

The moment Elliot stepped into the hospital room, Casey bolted out of bed and threw herself at him, crying, "Elliot! Oh thank god..."

"Woah, easy there, Case," he laughed, returning the embrace before leading her back to bed. "Lie down and relax for once, one would think a gunshot wound and giving birth would tire you out."

She waved at her gauze-covered shoulder like it was nothing, shaking her head. "Elliot, the doctors won't tell me anything about our son, they took him away from me and now they won't tell me where he is-"

"Calm down, all right? I talked with your doctor; he said our son is fine, they just have to keep him in the ICU because you had him a month early- that's all, Casey. He said that we can take him home in a couple of weeks, but that he is definitely going to be fine." Casey sighed in relief, leaning her head against his chest and closing her eyes for just a moment. "Ah, there it is. I knew you were tired." He led her back to bed and practically forced her to lie down, then glanced at the door and said, "Case, there are some people here to see you, if you're up to it..."

"Is it my boss?"

He laughed, shaking his head at her apprehensive expression. "No, it's not Branch, or your division chief, or anybody else who could be considered your boss."

"All right then, send them in." Elliot opened the door, and the entirety of SVU streamed in- Olivia, Munch, Fin, Cragen, Alex, even Melinda, who appeared to be there just because everybody else was.

"God, the whole cavalry? Wow! And nice doctor work there, Alex, really, I think a blind squirrel could have done better." Alex, whose head was wrapped in a bloody bandage that made her look like a war veteran, smirked and crossed her arms, glaring sullenly at her.

"Shut up. It's all Olivia's fault," she pouted, and Olivia slung an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek before looking back at Casey.

"I made her get her head checked out, turns out, it was worse than we thought, but she'll be fine. And you know I only did it because I love you, Lex," she said, pulling Alex close, but the blond shook her head and glared at her.

"Uh-uh. I told you, I have a headache, I'm not going to play your stupid little games to get me into bed, and besides, I have a new rule- no mouth-to-mouth kissing before the wedding. I'll explain later, right now, it's Casey's day. Listen, Case, I'm sorry this all happened and I ended up getting you shot, I don't know what the hell I was thinking, going after Lindsey the way I did-"

"Shush, Alex- important thing is, no one died. Actually, I don't know that- how exactly do you guys get out of there?"

Elliot chuckled, smiling brightly. "Remember that story I told you about my Gunnery Sergeant with all those rules? Well, his rule number 9 was to always carry a knife. I had one with me, managed to get Lindsey close enough, stabbed her, then grabbed the gun. EMS took care of her, I think she's already in Central Booking. No one else was hurt and I don't think anyone's suing us, so, all's well that ends well."

Casey rolled her eyes but smiled in spite of herself, taking hold of Elliot's hand while Olivia filled her in on what actually happened after she left.

The past two years had been some of the hardest of her life, and Casey knew the emotional trauma from today's events still had to be dealt with in the weeks and months to come. But something Garcia had taught her that she didn't regret was that she could move past anything- at first, after the rape, Casey had begun to wonder if she could ever have her life back. But, with Olivia's help, she had managed to... not really obtain closure, because that was a myth- no, Casey would never forget that night or have the life she had before it, but she had learned what it was like to live again.

It had been the memories of that realization that sustained her after the kidnapping. The incident with Melinda and the syringe had proven that no, she wasn't completely recovered from it, but things had gotten better. And now she had a husband and a child to add to her family- it wasn't the life she had always imagined for herself when she was a kid, not by a long shot, but she loved it all the same.

Garcia had tried to destroy her, and now he was dead, yet she was still alive. Lindsey had almost killed her and her son, and now she was going to jail and her son was going to be fine. Casey had never been a fan of happy endings in books, but in life... well, they were all right.

As Munch punched Fin on the shoulder and the entire group started laughing, Casey looked around and smiled. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but that didn't matter. They were family and loved each other. She wasn't the only one who'd suffered these past few years, but all those people trying to kill them hadn't succeeded

.

_Maybe love really does conquer everything_, she thought as they broke out into smiles and launched into a discussion of names for her child.

Oh dear god in heaven, that has got to be the worst ending to a story I have ever written. But there you have it- with plot lines stolen from NCIS, cheesy cliches, and plenty of loose ends- the end to my first ever trilogy. Adios!

… Also, for anyone who's interested, I named the son Alexis Stabler. And since I intended for this to be an end to the series when I wrote it, it doesn't really fit the fact that I'm adding at Part 4. Well, I am. Still untitled, but look at my profile for a quick summary. Adios for real this time!


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